CARETAKER-BOSS John McMahon pulled no punches after Tranmere Rovers crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Luton Town in front of the satellite TV cameras at Kenilworth Road last night.

CARETAKER-BOSS John McMahon pulled no punches after Tranmere Rovers crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Luton Town in front of the satellite TV cameras at Kenilworth Road last night.

McMahon (left) said: "It was a very poor performance and I was disappointed with the lads.

"The work-rate was okay but there was no quality in our performance, particularly the defending.

"I'm very disappointed for our travelling fans and for us to have played like that on live TV was embarrassing at times. I know we can do a lot better."

McMahon added: "There was a lack of concentration, a lack of confidence and a lack of quality and ability in the way we performed tonight. That's the way it is.

"I thought we defended like schoolboys at times. It was comical for the want of a better word. "At times we looked terrified. We had terrible difficulty defending crosses.

"I told them what I thought in no uncertain terms.

"Whoever takes over, whether it's me or someone else, we've got to do a lot better than this. You need to have eight or nine of your team performing up to par, not the other way round. Tonight we only had a couple who were performing okay."

McMahon is not as yet committing himself to applying for the post left vacant by Ray Mathias's sacking 10 days ago.

The candidates include Chester City boss Mark Wright, former Leicester and Aston Villa manager Brian Little and former Stoke and Celtic boss Lou Macari.

Tranmere suffered a casualty last night as right-back Ryan Taylor left the ground on crutches after taking a heavy blow on the knee.

McMahon faces an uncertain week as Tranmere prepare for Saturday's visit to Plymouth.

The Tranmere board have indicated they want to make a swift appointment and an announcement could be made before the trip to the West Country, depending upon the availability of the man they choose.